Your Walkthrough Checklist Before Taking Possession of a New Manufactured Home
The walkthrough is the one hour of the whole purchase where you have the most leverage and the least experience. Everything on your deficiency list is easier to get fixed before you sign than after.
This checklist is written for a new modular or manufactured home being set on a pad in the Okanagan, whether that is Lake Country, Vernon or the Kelowna area. Take it with you, take your time, and take photographs of everything you note.
Before you go
- Bring the right things: this list, a phone with a charged battery, a small level, a marble or a ball, a phone charger to test outlets, a flashlight, and a tape measure.
- Go in daylight, and if you can, go on a day when it has rained recently.
- Allow two hours, not thirty minutes.
- Bring a second person. Two people notice more than one, and one can write while the other looks.
- Ask for the manuals and paperwork to be available on the day, not mailed later.
The set and the structure
This is the part unique to a factory built home, and it is the part most worth your attention.
- The marriage line. Where two modules join, look along the ceiling and the floor for the seam, inside every room it passes through. It should be closed, finished and level. A visible ridge, a gap, or drywall cracking along it is a set issue, not a cosmetic one.
- Level. Roll the marble or the ball on the floor in several rooms. A consistent roll in one direction across the whole home suggests the set or the levelling. Note it now.
- Doors and windows through the marriage line. If they bind, stick, or do not latch cleanly, the home may not be sitting evenly.
- Interior doors generally. Open each one halfway and let go. A door that swings on its own is telling you about level.
- Skirting. Complete, secured, vented as specified, with an access hatch you can actually get through.
- Underside access. Look underneath with the flashlight where you can. Check that insulation and the belly wrap are intact and not torn from transport, and that nothing is hanging loose.
- Tie downs and anchoring, as specified.
- Steps and landings at every exterior door, built and secured, with handrails where required.
- Roof. Look from the ground at the ridge line, the shingles or panels at the joint between modules, and the flashings. Ask when it was inspected after the set.
Services
Test each of these yourself. Do not accept "it has been checked".
- Water. Run every tap, hot and cold. Check for pressure, for hot water arriving in a reasonable time, and for leaks under every sink. Flush every toilet twice.
- Drainage. Fill a sink and let it go. Watch that it drains fast and check underneath while it does.
- Water heater. Confirm the type, that it is strapped, that the relief valve discharges appropriately, and that a drain pan is present if the location warrants it.
- Electrical. Test every outlet with the charger. Operate every switch. Confirm the panel is labelled clearly. Test the GFCI and AFCI devices with their buttons.
- Heating and cooling. Run the heat and, if fitted, the cooling. Check that every register blows and that returns are unobstructed.
- Ventilation. Bathroom and kitchen fans running, and vented to outside rather than into a cavity.
- Gas appliances, if fitted, lit and operating, with the permit and inspection record available.
- Septic or sewer connection confirmed and inspected, and the water source confirmed, whether municipal or a well.
- Exterior taps running, and shutoffs identified.
Interior finishes
- Walls and ceilings in raking light, which shows drywall finishing far better than overhead light.
- Flooring for gaps, lifted edges, soft spots and squeaks. Walk the whole floor including closets.
- Cabinets and drawers, every door and every drawer, opened and closed. Check that they align and that the hardware is complete.
- Countertops for chips, seams and secure fixing.
- Windows, every one opened, closed, latched, and the screens present and fitted.
- Appliances, each one run through a cycle if practical, with the model numbers and warranty cards collected.
- Trim and caulking at tubs, showers, sinks and backsplashes.
- Paint finish and touch ups.
Outside
- Grading and drainage away from the home. This is the one that causes problems later. Water should run away from the skirting on every side.
- Downspouts discharging away from the home and not onto the pad.
- Siding, trim and any transport damage, particularly at corners and at the ends that led on the highway.
- The pad or foundation for cracking and for level.
- Utility connections neatly made and protected.
- Anything you were promised in the contract: decks, driveway, landscaping, fencing. Compare against the document rather than against memory.
Paperwork to collect on the day
- CSA certification documentation for the home
- Serial number and data plate location
- All appliance manuals and warranty registrations
- Warranty documentation for the home, with the term and the claims process in writing
- Permits and inspection records for the set, plumbing, gas and electrical
- Contact and process for warranty service, with a name and a phone number
- The signed deficiency list, with dates attached to each item
How the deficiency list should work
Write everything down, including small items. A minor scuff costs nothing to fix now and is your problem in a month.
For each item, get three things agreed in writing: what it is, who is fixing it, and by when. A list with no dates is a wish. If any item is significant, discuss whether a holdback until it is completed is appropriate; your lawyer or notary is the person to ask about that.
Take photographs of every item as you list it, with something in frame for scale. Photographs settle disagreements that words do not.
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire an independent inspector for a new home?
Many buyers do, and for a factory built home an inspector who understands the set, the levelling and the marriage line is more useful than a generalist. It is a small cost against the purchase.
What warranty applies?
Ask the seller specifically what warranty covers the home, what covers the appliances, and what covers the site work, since they are often three different things with three different terms.
How long do I have to report a problem?
That depends on the warranty terms. Read them before possession, not after, and note any deadline for reporting.
Is it normal for a new home to settle?
Some minor settling and seasonal movement is normal in any home. Persistent unevenness, doors that will not latch, or drywall cracking along the marriage line are not in that category.
What if I find something after I move in?
Report it in writing immediately, with photographs and a date. A paper trail from day one is what makes a warranty claim straightforward.
An Okanagan option worth talking to
*Disclosure: Crafted Developments Corp. is a business listed on the Okanagan Trade Directory. The description below comes from their own published information. Their public Google rating is 4.2 across 10 reviews at the time of writing.*
Crafted Developments Corp. is an Okanagan based modular housing company building net zero ready homes for the BC market. It operates alongside sister brand Crafted Modular Living and is backed by parent company Woodland Crafted Homes, which it states has delivered more than 300 homes across Western Canada. Crafted lists 8 modular home models from a 350 square foot Dragonfly studio to a 2,016 square foot four bedroom Jackpine, states its homes are CSA Z240 certified and meet BC Energy Step Code Step 5, and gives factory build times of 8 to 16 weeks. Active land developments listed include Deer Meadows Estates in Lake Country and The Views Okanagan in Vernon.
See their Okanagan Trade Directory listing or visit crafteddevelopments.com.
Whoever you buy from, roll a marble on the floor before you sign. It takes ten seconds and it tells you more than the brochure.